Headlines

• She expressed her concerns during an interview to AFP on the eve of the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
• Meanwhile, Sweden says Russia's threat has grown. "The European Security Order as we know it has ceased to exist...", Lena Hallin, head of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST), told a news conference on Monday.
  

Tallinn, Feb.23.– Estonia's defence "starts from Ukraine ... We see clearly that our defence right now starts also from Ukraine because Ukraine is fighting with the same threat... So as long as they are fighting there, they are weakening the same enemy as we have," said PM Kaja Kallas.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden says the US will defend 'every inch of NATO' - as Moscow welcomes China's help in 'resolving' the Ukraine war. The US president met leaders from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, the nine countries in the most eastern parts of the NATO alliance. These countries have expressed concerns that Mr. Putin could launch military action against them next if he is successful in Ukraine.

Various citizen platforms and self-convened populations met this Tuesday at multiple points in the capital of Santa Cruz to remember the date. In El Cristo they staged a rally.

Sta. Cruz, Feb.21.– The commemoration of the seven years of the constitutional referendum of February 21, 2016, which prevented Evo Morales from running for a new re-election for president, various citizen platforms and self-convened population, met this Tuesday in various points of the capital of Santa Cruz and the country to remember the date.

by Daniela Vancic *

Cologne, Feb.16.– Since 2019, we have reported extensively on the developments around the Conference on the Future of Europe, from our advocacy work with Citizens Take Over Europe to the monitoring of the actual European Citizens’ Panels on the ground. And on January 14th, the next phase of the Conference began: the Parliament for the Future of Europe.

Parliament for the Future of Europe is an EU-funded project coordinated by us at Democracy International that will continue for the next 1.5 years until the 2024 European Parliament elections. The project involves 6 other partner organizations from the 6 EU Member States with the lowest voter turnouts in the last European elections. The goal: to scrutinize the proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) and reshape them to be more inclusive and to better meet the needs of marginalized and underrepresented groups. 

Rewind back to the fall of 2021: the European Citizens’ Panels just launched, and one of the top civil society criticisms of the process was the lack of inclusiveness. While the European Citizens’ Panels, in theory, should be a mirror of European society due to the nature of the sortition process of citizens’ assemblies, those underrepresented groups in traditional political participation practices remained underrepresented in the European Citizens’ Panels. This is especially concerning when discussing topics like migration, where those who would be most affected by EU migration policy could not be seen in the room.

Kyiv, Feb.15.– Since the 1950s, the US has created scenarios and war games centered around nuclear war. Nearly all of them suggest that there is no turning back once one begins. The United States President is authorized to employ military force against any country he considers appropriate under the Military Use Authorization Directive (MUAD). In this scenario, Putin's assault on Ukraine would be covered by the order, and the US would be permitted to use military force.

It's important to note that President Obama modified MUAD in 2012, including a provision that permits preemptive strikes. There are never any winners, even if they choose a flexible response approach. The MAD (mutually assured destruction) scenario makes it clear that utilizing nuclear weapons comes at a high cost.